Josh and the Big Wall!
Josh and the Big Wall! is the ninth episode of VeggieTales. This episode is a retelling of the bible story of the Battle of Jericho. Plot The Israelites, having been held as slaves in Egypt, are liberated by Moses (Mr. Nezzer) and led to the Promised Land. However, they question God's methods and are found guilty by the court and sentenced to be banished from Israel to exile for forty years. Upon the completion of their forty-year exile, Moses has died, and Joshua (Larry the Cucumber) has become leader of the Israelites. Joshua leads them back to the Promised Land, but the city of Jericho stands in their way. The Israelites are then met by the defenders of Jericho (the French Peas) who taunt them from atop the city's great walls. Joshua tries to explain that God has given this land to the Israelites and that therefore the defenders will have to step aside, but the Israelites are instead met by more insults and smug jeering. When a slushy falls off the wall and hits Jimmy on the head, Joshua decides that the Israelites should fall back and regroup. That night, Joshua meets the commander (Archibald Asparagus) of the Army of the Lord who tells him how the Israelites are to take Jericho: they must march around the city once a day for six days; on the seventh day they are to march around it seven times while the priests blow their horns, and all scream as loud as they can at the same time. At this point, the messenger states, the walls of Jericho will fall. Joshua reports this to his team the next morning, but the rest of the Israelites have ideas of their own. Pa Grape wants to go back to Egypt, and Jimmy and Jerry plan to attack the wall with a giant rocket they just constructed and the Israelites applaud (despite not having hands). Eventually, they agree to try it God's way and proceed to Jericho later that day. While marching around the walls, the Israelites face more trouble; the city's defenders insult them all the more, turning their taunts into a choreographed musical number, while Joshua and the agitated Israelites try to ignore them. Unfortunately, the taunting turns to a super semi-frozen battle when the Jericho defenders use slushies as their weapons to attack the Israelites, forcing them to retreat. The end of the day finds the drenched and desperate Israelites on the verge of rebellion, while Joshua refuses to quit. At this point, Junior, one of the Israelites and the co-narrator, intervenes and convinces them to continue with the plan. He says that God's way always works out in the end. The Israelites agree to stick with the plan, despite more slushy attacks and taunts. On the seventh day they blow their horns and scream. At first, nothing happens. The Jericho peas laugh, but then the walls collapse under them. The Israelites continue their journey towards the Promised Land. Characters * Bob the Tomato * Larry the Cucumber (Himself and Joshua) * Junior Asparagus * Jimmy and Jerry Gourd * Pa Grape * Tom Grape * Scooter Carrot * Archibald Asparagus * Sheep * Qwerty * Woman Voice (Singing) * The Pickle Family * George (Picture) * The French Peas (Soldiers of Jericho) * The Potato Family (Picture) * Lovely Asparagus (Picture) * Dad Asparagus (Picture) * The Bulls (Picture) * The Peach (Picture) * The Whale (Picture) *Larry-Boy (Mask helmet; Picture) Songs *VeggieTales Theme Song *The Promise Land *The Song of the Cebú *The Lord Has Given *Keep Walking *The Lord Has Given (reprise) *The Promise Land (reprise) *What Have We Learned Quotes :The lord says to you Joshua; "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands! March around the city once with all your men. Do this each day for six days! Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets! When you hear them sound a long blast, have all the people give a loud shout, and the walls of the city will collapse-- and Jericho will be yours!" - The angel delivering God's message to Joshua Home media *It was first released August 5th, 1997 by Word Entertainment. On June 8th, 1999, Word Entertainment and Lyrick Studios reprinted it. In 2000, they reprinted it again. In 2002, Warner Home Video reprinted it as part of the VeggieTales Classics line. In February 2009, it was rereleased in promotion of Abe and the Amazing Promise. Fun Facts Moral *You can't always get your way. Explanations *Saline is a mixture of sodium chloride (salt and sterile water). It's commonly used for contact lens solution and nasal irrigation sprays. Trivia *This is the first episode for these things: **The first time someone spits in a episode. **The first episode Everett Downing worked on as an assistant storyboard artist. **The first physical debut appearance of Phillipe. Jean Claude was originally paired with Christophe and Phillipe was previously heard in the Christmas album. **The first episode where Larry is replaced with a different veggie as the host (in this case, Junior). *This marks the last appearance of Tom Grape. *The last show Mike Nawrocki did the sound effects. *This was the last episode to use the VeggieTales logo and intro from 1993 to 1997. *This episode is similar to Dave and the Giant Pickle as they both take place in Israel. However, the designs of the hoods the characters are wearing look different. *According to the concept art, there were a few differences between that and the final. **The ark was going to be on wheels. **The helmets on the army of Jericho were going to be colanders and something to an Asian straw hat. Also, the helmets would've covered the Peas' eyesight, but they'd still see (ala Tom Grape and Mr. Lunt). **The wall was going to be extendable, meaning, starting as a low wall and folding up to become bigger. **There was going to be a motorcycle. *There was going to be more shots of the walls of Jericho collapsing for the episode, but they were cancelled due to money running low and the episode's deadline. *Mike Nawrocki read the interactive storybook version on The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment! *At the end, Junior asks Bob if the Israelites really built a rocket and got slushies dropped on their heads. This line was added in the script in order to prevent young children asking that question in Sunday School. *This is the last episode to have the Word and Everland Entertainment box cover and the 1993 version of the theme song. *Even though Junior replaced Larry in this episode, Larry did appear with Bob in the next episode. Remarks *This was one of the first episodes to be release on DVD back in 2002, which was later release in 2009. Besides the art cover, the DVDs (both menus and features) are identical, with the exception of the FBI warning and trailers. *The lighting has changed from what was from the previous episodes, despite the fact that Larry-Boy! and the Fib from Outer Space! was the first episode with a lighting department. Phil stated this because they had a new lighting technician after the previous one left. **This is also the first time the characters had a different color look, which results them not as shiny. This was done by their lighting director at the time and Jon Gadsby. *The sun shown is actually a lens flare. *Unlike the Biblical version of the story, God's directions don't start at Egypt. Goofs *After God tells Moses about the Promised Land, you can still see part of the clothing after he leaves the screen. *As you'll notice in some shots, the legs on the sheep don't touch the ground, making them float in mid-air. *In the first of Jericho, the slushie cup isn't there until it shows up in the closeups of the Peas. It then vanishes again after the Peas ask Joshua who he is. It then reappears after Joshua tells the Peas to leave. *One shot shows Jerry's eyes positioned too high. Inside References *This episode has a few nods to Dave and the Giant Pickle, such as: **It's a retelling of a Bible story that takes place in the desert, and the costumes the characters wore (Jimmy, Jerry, Tom, and Junior) were recycled. **Goliath and the sheep are in it. **The French Peas were portrayed as the bad guys. *A few mentions of lack of body parts, such as: **Tom stating to his father how they're clapping. **Jimmy saying he has slushy in his ear. *Larry has his pajamas from Oh, Santa! at the end. Real World References *Like Dave, this episode contained a small nod to the Monty Python series. Here, the French Peas taunt Josh and the Israelites from above the wall. This is reminiscent in Holy Grail, where the French taunt King Arthur and his men from their fort. *As Phil confirmed, the moving arrow action on the map is similar what the Indiana Jones films did. Fast Forward *Junior would become co-host again for a later episode, even the opening for this episode where they imagine themselves in the story. *This episode, along with Dave and the Giant Pickle, was turned into a touring live show in 2002. Both episodes were combined into one 90 minute show. Episode Transcript *Transcript Gallery Category:Episodes Category:VeggieTales episodes Category:Biblical adaptations Category:VHS Category:DVDs Category:1990s Episodes Category:VCD Category:Episodes produced by Big Idea Category:In-house productions Category:Episodes aired on TV